Parish Life

Parish life at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle often moves at the pulse of the avenue in front of this handsome place of worship; I believe this; I have observed it on many different occasions. There is a wonderful pulse about the place, a spiritual pulse nurturing and inviting. There are moments when I have felt insignificant but something within the Cathedral reminds me to be quiet, to look not with my eyes, to hear not with my ears, to touch not with my fingers. Here is a place of prayer. Here is a place to reflect upon the many facets of life.

Parish life has its own unique pulse. Last night I stayed for a talk that I had heard the day before. I stayed in part because I wanted a photograph of the committee members who had worked hard to plan this event. I stayed because someone asked me to stay.

Saint Matthew’s Cathedral is a great place to attend Mass; Saint Matthew’s Cathedral is a great place to cultivate and nurture your relationship with God; Saint Matthew’s Cathedral is a great place for gentle fellowship.

I was glad that I stayed and listened to the talk again. I was there with friends. I was there learning about the history of Church tradition. The Passover and the Eucharist were linked. Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin were mentioned as being part of the history and tradition of the Church. Being a product of the Twentieth century it is easy to believe that the cinematic American English brogue dominated the ancient world. It is refreshing and beneficial to be exposed to the truth and then realize how beautiful and majestic and enduring the Church is.

And so I was listening to the talk and learning something new. The talk was not the same talk that I had heard before. There were minor changes.

So it was enjoyable for me to attend this talk, treat it as something new, see familiar faces from the parish. The Cathedral parish is a great place of Beginning, a great place of Hope. With a little patience our thoughts can be attuned to the rhythm of charity, humility, compassion, mercy, and obedience, attuned to the rhythm of love. Here Hope is lithe. Here Faith is lithe. We each have the opportunity, the obligation to share Hope, to share Faith.

There were a few sentences which made me think, made me want to read the Bible more. The Liturgy of the Word is sunlight for the soul. A gift of joy to provoke discernment and prayer. Within the Bible I can discover something new, something beneficial if I allow myself to be open, to take the time to prepare.

The movement of God in our lives is not mysterious; our acceptance of God and his influence is mysterious controlled by our own capriciousness, our own selfishness. God is always present in our lives, always asking us to be obedient.

he would withdraw to deserted places to pray

Listening to the Liturgy of the Word should be an active process, the entire mind should be engaged with each word that is spoken during this time. The Bible is filled with activity. People are always moving around, obeying God, disobeying God. The people in the Bible are always up to something. Although the Bible does not mention texting, email, smart phones, the people of the Bible knew how to communicate with one another without using a telephone or Facebook or Twitter or Youtube. The People of the Bible were good at getting the message.

Jesus was a very busy person. He was always on the go, moving from town to town. His ministry involved motion, involved going to the people, involved listening to the people, involved serving the people. Jesus did not limit his ministry to one neighborhood in one town. He was in Nazareth, Capernaum, Bethabara, Cana, Galilee.

Two Thousand years later there is something magical, something powerful in the names of these places and the connection to Jesus. His ministry moved from the countryside to the synagogue to the countryside. His ministry moved along country roads and city streets.

His message was simple love God and love each other. His message was radical then, and is still radical now.

Even with all the moving about from town to town Jesus always found time to pray.

Christianity asks each believer, each Christian to spread the Good News, to share their blessings and gifts with others, to praise and love God each day. Christianity asks each believer to join a journey of goodness, holiness, kindness, to join a journey of faithfulness and loyalty to God.

It is important to always be attentive, to always be listening for the voice of God. Being Christian often involves a period of discernment, of contemplating, praying reflecting on how to move closer to God, on how to serve God.

Each day there are signs of the Holy Spirit in our lives, encouraging us to pray, encouraging us to help others, encouraging us to avoid temptations and distractions. Each day there are signs of the Holy Spirit directing us toward God, directing us to the path of Jesus. Each day there are signs of the Holy Spirit asking each of to be active Christians, loving and serving God, loving each other unconditionally.

Even with our busy lives of work, family, friends, volunteer activities, each Christian should find time to pray.

Each day I wonder what Nazareth, Capernaum, Bethabara, Cana, Galilee were like when Jesus was alive and moving from town to town. Each day I wonder if there is something more that I could be doing to love and serve God.

A sense of courage is needed. A sense of humor is required. Simplicity is needed. Love is required. Being Christian requires active listening, active participation. Being Christian requires gracious words, loving deeds.

holy and beloved - December 26, 2010

It was a time to be warmhearted, to be time of tenderhearted; a time to believe in hope, in God. There were thick white candles with delicate orange flames reaching toward the ceiling, dancing toward heaven.

How easy it is to forget the behind the scene preparation for each Mass, to forget the ritual which precedes the rich, spiritual Rituals of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Here reverence and respect have an uneasy alliance. There is much scurrying, much hurrying. Patens and cruets have to filled and placed in the proper places. The chalice has to be covered and placed in its proper place. The ribbons in the books must be on the correct pages. There are voices saying hello, voices saying good-bye. There is much activity. There are questions about Mass, questions about brunch or the football game. It is a spiritual time. It is a very human time. It is a time for reflection. It is a time to search for chalice veil or a cushion for a chair or to ask someone to pray for you. Always people are walking this way, walking that way. Here is a moment of quick, joyous welcome. Here is a moment to accept a quick handshake, humble smile.

There is a little anxiety as volunteers arrive and ask for instruction.

There is a pureness in the moments leading up to a Mass, a moment of incorruptible high ideals and righteous as these minutes are freely, lovingly given in service to God.

There is laughing, water sipping, hand-washing, book skimming, slouching, standing, wobbling, joking, listening, praying. Here is a community.

Here is an opportunity to follow Jesus Christ, to escape the darkness and dangers of the secular world. Here is a time to be earnest, humble, and loving. Here is a time to seek illumination from God. Here we discuss contemporary hope and the encyclicals of the Pope. We ask about the Cardinal's ring which glancing at the processional song which we will sing.

There is a moment of silence, a moment of prayer, a moment when time does appear to stop, and Jesus Christ does gently appear on each face, each loving, believing face.

Truth asks us to find Meaning

through the righteousness that comes from faith. Romans 4:13


Being Catholic affords us many opportunities for a continuing education in the mercifulness and love of God. We have daily Masses, we have the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we have the sacraments. The aim of the Church is to provide the tools necessary for us to live simply, lovingly as Christ lived and as Christ wants us to live with fairness and social justice. We have the opportunity and responsibility to encounter and learn how to become better Christians every day. Our education in being Christian is not finite; new things are being added every day. The teachings and dogma of the Church are constant, lasting for thousands of years in some cases. How we apply the teachings and ideas of the Church does change.

We live in a time of white lies, coverups, statements, and declarations. So many words bombard us constantly. Politicians misleading voters, celebrities being unfaithful to their spouses, athletes having controlled substance problems. We hear these things every day. We read about them in newspapers and magazine. We wait for the next person, the next story, the next white line, the next denial, the next press conference with a short apology and some statement of regret.

Saying that we are sinners is easy; our society teaches us to admit this when we are caught with our hands in the cookie jar without a plausible explanation. We live in a time when every sin can be downgraded. The concept of sin is difficult for some people to accept. There are choices, good and bad. Sin surrounds us. We are in a guerilla war with sin and many of us do not know it. Our society now desensitizes us to sin, encourages us to sin, to act immorally.

As Christians we must always remember God. We must always remember that our lives are not simply for us but for him; we have the responsibility to be humble loving servants for God.

It is not enough to admit that we are sinners; we must understand what it means to be a sinner. The words are meaningless without knowledge and understanding. We live in a time of over-stimulation and meaninglessness. So much information is available to us in all types of formats, amounts, places. We can not process it all. We can not understand it all.

Sometimes, it is easier to focus on one thing, to try and learn about that one thing. Let everything else fall to sides temporarily. The Beatitudes are great for this. The Lord’s Prayer is also great.

As an example the Lord’s Prayer provides a great place for us to focus briefly. The Lord’s prayer appears in two of the Gospels. It’s structure is similar to the Ten Commandments. The first part relates to God, the second relates to us. The Lord’s prayer presents Christ’s idea about community to us. Notice the complete absence of the word “I”. Notice the use of the word “our”.

As Christians we must remember to seek out goodness. Being good is not a weakness; it is a sign of strength. As goodness grows within us, our knowledge of God also grows.

Truth waits for us. God waits for us. Words are transient. God presents each us with many opportunities to observe goodness, to learn about holiness. We have the Holy Scriptures, the lives of the Saints, prayers, the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the Sacraments, and we have each other. At some point in time when even we ourselves neither know or realize it we are by our actions teaching someone about our faith; about goodness, fairness, love; about God. It happens quietly, it provides hope to someone in need.

With patience and hope allow yourself time for a relaxed period of discernment, seek only Truth, listen only for God’s voice. Let your personal conceits and judgments fade into the background. Lead your thoughts toward the Light, do not worry or fret about dark, shadowy ideas. Concentrate on finding ways to be pleasing to God. Allow yourself to avoid any thoughts which would encourage you to neglect loving God. Simply believe and accept that being lovingly obedient and humble before God is necessary and profitable for our souls.Only direct our minds toward goodness, hope, forgiveness, mercy, love; the connection with God will grow. With patience, prayer and hope our eyes will see the Truth, our ears will hear the Truth.

We Pray at Twilight

We live in a era that emphasizes leisure. We are sinners. Sibylline talking heads reinterpret the Bill of Rights. Byzantine parrots joke about how complicated our lives become as each new technological advance allows us to stay connected with each other. We murmur communication to ourselves in barely audible tones. We are trying to improve our lives.

Our lives still contain mistakes, failure, sin; modern society has removed public morality from the public’s conscience. Every behavior is accepted, every behavior is expected. Many people live moments of great compromise and confusion behind faded brocade curtains of sin and vice.

We live within great metropolises with malignant friends leading us into subterranean antechambers, crumbling and dark; our subways offer a glimpse of purgatory, a noisy chaotic moment when we must depend upon prayer, our own and our neighbors. Flattering acquaintances present florid complements to the bad weather, our bad natures revolving in the revolving doors, revolving with jealousy, revolving with avarice, revolving and revolving.

There were prayers to say on Sunday, hymns to sing on Sunday, and ideas and ideals to reflect upon, to incorporate into our lives. We listened on those poetic Sunday mornings to lessons about goodness, about morals; and we decided which restaurant we would be best for our brunch party.

Urban life beckons us with unending choices and sweet popular possibilities preserved within television commercials and glossy magazine advertisements present unending promises of happiness, fulfillment. Ironically we live with an era of typographical and grammatical errors.

The secular color of the moment remains an aggrieved gray, mourning, weeping like a discarded courtesan demanding the attention and courtesies from a younger yesterday. The sound of this discontent does not disturb us as it tries to attack our hearts and souls.

There are prayers before and after Communion for us to listen to, for us to think about. Being Christian is sometimes like being a travelling salesman moving from room to room, searching for leads, laying foundations for future sales. Being Christian is always examining ourselves, always trying to apply the Gospel teachings to our lives.

Sibylline coffee cups with enticing whipped cream wait to protest social justice, wait to lead you astray with words of discouragement, words of discontent.

But the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist are beautiful yet ancient; they both offer and gently encourage love. We are asked to look within the unopened rooms within our hearts to find and release all of our love. Sharing our love will improve our lives.

There is always talk of murder and mayhem. Euthanasia, contraception, abortion have become accepted as natural modern living rights with slogans, supporters, and advertising campaigns confusing and/or losing the issue of the value of each life.

The hateful, profanity covered lyrics from some popular songs attack the pedestrians with machine gun like intensity from behind tinted glass. The faces on the street are lost, disillusioned, desperate and so much denim and so many people simply moving between eutectic points, freezing or melting, sinning and regretting. . . . We pray at twilight.